AC Milan are not concerned about their Scudetto hopes slipping away, with Adrien Rabiot pointing out that there is a long way to go in the Serie A title race.

Milan visit Fiorentina on Sunday, having let two points slip through their grasp last time out in a 1-1 draw with Genoa.

That result left Massimiliano Allegri's side three points adrift of rivals Inter at the top of the table, but with the Nerazzurri facing third-place Napoli on Sunday, they could have an opportunity to make up ground on matchday 19.

Milan have not lost in Serie A since matchday one, when they went down to Cremonese in the first league game of Allegri's second stint in charge.

Should they avoid defeat this weekend, Milan will reach 19 matchdays in a Serie A season with as few as one defeat for only the fourth time in the three-points-for-a-win era, after 1995-96, 2003-04 and 2004-05. 

Milan won the Scudetto in the first two of those campaigns, while finishing as runners-up in the latter.

"It's January," Rabiot said as he reflected on Thursday's slip-up. "The season runs until May, there are many matches and many head-to-head games. 

"We need to stay calm, recover our energy for Sunday and keep going. We're there. We're not worried."

Rabiot does believe Milan must shake their habit of starting slowly – if only first halves counted, they would be fourth in the Serie A table with 28 points. In the second-half table, they are second with 34 points. 

"We always tell ourselves to start well, but sometimes we're not there mentally," Rabiot continued. "

"We do better after half-time, but we can't play only 50 minutes per match. We'll keep working on this, especially on the mental side."

Fiorentina sit 18th in the table, having taken more points from their four games (seven) than they did from their first 15 at the start of the campaign (six), having replaced Stefano Pioli – a former title-winning coach with Milan – with Paolo Vanoli in November. 

Fiorentina sit 18th in the table, having taken more points from their last four games (seven) than they did from their first 15 at the start of the campaign (six), having replaced Stefano Pioli – a former title-winning coach with Milan – with Paolo Vanoli in November. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fiorentina – Albert Gudmundsson 

Gudmundsson is one of four players, alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Riccardo Orsolini and Nikola Vlasic, to have scored three penalties in Serie A this season. 

Since the start of 2023-24, the Fiorentina man has converted nine of his 10 penalties in the competition; only Paulo Dybala (91%) has a better conversion rate from the spot than him (90%) among players who have taken at least eight in the top flight over this period.

AC Milan – Rafael Leao 

Fiorentina are one of two teams – along with Cagliari – against whom Leao has scored the most Serie A goals; the Portugal forward has netted six times in just eight games against the Viola.

However, only one of those goals came at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, on March 30, 2024. Milan won that game 2-1 with Leao also providing an assist for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

MATCH PREDICTION – AC MILAN WIN

AC Milan have won 79 of their 171 Serie A matches against Fiorentina (D45 L47), with the Rossoneri only recording more victories against Roma (81) in the competition. 

Fiorentina are also the side against whom Milan have scored the most goals (268) in their Serie A history.

And only one of the last 11 Serie A matches between Fiorentina and Milan has ended in a draw (2-2 last April at San Siro), with the Rossoneri winning seven and Fiorentina winning three during this period.

Fiorentina are currently two Serie A games unbeaten (W1 D1), but they have not gone three consecutive matches without defeat in the competition at any point this season. 

The Viola have gained seven points in their last four Serie A fixtures, one more than they collected in their first 15 league games of the season.

But Milan, who are unbeaten since matchday one, are the favourites. Away from home, they are the only team yet to lose in Serie A this season, only conceding five goals in eight road trips (W5 D3) – Bayern Munich are the only other team in Europe's top five leagues who are yet to lose on their travels.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Fiorentina – 26.7%

AC Milan – 47.1%

Draw – 26.1%